this sunday on "meet this sunday on "meet the th press," president obama makes it clear this country is in for the long haul. >> we will degrade and ultimately destroy isis. >> but suggests this isn't a war the u.s. can win alone. >> a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. >> james baker, the man who built the alliance that forced hussein out of kuwait will tell me if he thinks president obama's plan will work. hillary clinton visits iowa today. many see it as day one of her campaign. >> i am looking for someone a little bit more liberal. >> is she really as much of a sure thing as some people think? the nfl in crisis. growing calls for roger goodell to resign over his handling of the ray rice case.

how big a problem is domestic violence in this country? what everyone in washington knows but is afraid to say. i'm chuck todd. joining me to provide insight and analysis are mike murphy, helene cooper, nia-malika henderson and jim vandehei. and bryant gumbel of "real sports." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press"ment good sunday morning. isis response to president obama was savage and depressingly predictable. yesterday they released a video showing the killing of british aid worker david haines. earlier this week the president used a prime time address to reassure a fearful american public that he is taking this threat posed by isis as seriously as they are. he has promised not to commit american troops to fight in syria or iraq. he is calling for air strikes and providing weaponry and training to forces on the ground who are fighting isis.

by the way, it's striking that president obama sounded a lot like george w. bush despite their differences on iraq. when it comes to taking on terrorist, their rhetoric and policy is strikingly similar. >> trained and battle hardened, they could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks. >> they are sent to hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction. >> the united states of america will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. >> we will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect americans. >> isil is not islamic. >> these acts of violence against innocence violate the fundamental tenants of the islamic fate. >> it will take time to eradicate isis. >> americans should not expect

one battle but a lengthy campaign. >> if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> we continue to pursue the terrorists in cities and camps and caves across the earth. >> fact is, they are pursuing similar policies now. secretary of state john kerry has been putting the hard sell tore help in the middle east over the last few days. it's not clear how many countries will help and how much they will contribute. check this out. we have poll numbers out this morning that show that the american people support president obama's plan to attack isis and at the same time are deeply skeptical that the plan will actually work. for all this i'm joined by richard engel who is inner bill and bill neely who is in damascus. richard, let me start with you. i want to get to this killing of the british aid worker here. the message that isis is trying to send, i saw your report last night. you believe they're trying to send a message to another country, not britain, not the united states. who is it?

>> reporter: it's a message to the world. it's a propaganda message. but it's very special to turkey. isis is holding more than 40 turkish diplomats hostage. turkey has been sensitive about this issue. it's illegal in turkey to talk about the subject. turkey has been reluctant to join the coalition with the united states. turkey would be essential. it's right on the border if the u.s. wants to organize an effective campaign to build the free syrian army, it probably has to be done through turkey. this is one way for isis to say, if turkey joins, its diplomats are at risk. >> they have the best military in the region. let's talk about where you are in iraq. the iraqi military, president obama is relying on the iraqi military to step up to avoid sending american combat troops. what are you seeing? >> reporter: we are seeing the iraqi military not stepping up. this is an enormous military trained by the united states to the tune of $25 billion. i remember so many times speaking to american generals

who were here saying, the iraqi army is ready. the iraqi army was not ready. they have not been able to push out isis. it hasn't been able to take back one province in this country. many people are questioning the loyalty of the iraqi army. they say it's deeply influenced by iran. so now the americans are flying overhead dropping bombs, doing american air strikes. you have the iraqi army ineffective and guided by iran. >> richard engel in erbil. thank you very much. i want to go to bill nealy in damascus. bill, is assad happy with the president's plan. does he see it as an opportunity to win the civil war? >> his men welcome u.s. air strikes but they say they want the strikes coordinated with them so that u.s. warplanes aren't shot out of the sky by syrian warplanes. the syrian warplanes have been

in action on the edge of damascus this morning attacking not isis positions but another rebel group allied to al qaeda. we have had the rhetoric from president obama. now comes the reality of those difficult choices, the killing of a hostage is designed to put pressure on president obama. and he does face some hard choices now. when does he take action here in syria? and where does he strike isis? who are the moderate rebels who might retake the ground after u.s. air strikes? pressure on president obama now to deliver on intentions here in syria. >> bill neely in damascus for us. thanks very much. stay safe as you travel in that country. you heard live reports in iraq and syria.

earlier i spoke to denis mcdonough. welcome back. >> thanks for having me. >> let me start with this issue of terminology. i asked the president last week about whether he was preparing the country for war. he pushed back, said this is not a war. he has not used the terminology war. and yet there seem to be this debate about semantics between the pentagon, josh earnest. why are you calling a war on isis and why has the president been hesitant to call it a war. >> you asked if he was preparing the country for war. he was preparing for this against isil. that's what we are doing. there was no debate between the white house and pentagon. you heard kerry, the pentagon and josh on friday under score that inasmuch as we have been at war with al qaeda, we are at war with isis. >> the democrats in general, you don't like to refer to these -- to this attack on al qaeda as a war. you didn't like the phrase war on terror. is that what this is about? >> well, no, chuck. you're confusing our position

with a generalization about something else. going back to 2007 president obama has called this the war against al qaeda the war we need to win. this effort against isil we will undertake with a broad coalition of nations -- muslim and otherwisement it's not like the war in iraq. we'll have hundreds of thousands of ground troops in the effort. but rather this is something that is going to be concerted, targeted and it is a war we have to win. >> we have polling that we're just releasing this more than. 62% of the country supports what the president wants to do. 68% don't believe it will work. why do you think that the public is supportive but skeptical that this will work? >> this is obviously a complicated effort. that's why the president is going about this in a very painstaking and very prudent fashion. that's why the secretary of state is now just continuing his efforts to travel throughout the region to get others to join us in this effort. and that's what we're going to do. we're going to lead an

international effort. this is not going to be easy. >> what does success look like? >> success looks like an isil that no longer threatens our friends, can't accumulate followers and threaten muslims in syria, iraq or otherwise. and that's exactly what success looks like. >> he held up yemen and say that's a good example. >> he held up yemen and somalia as how we carry this out. we will do this using our precise airborne capabilities, supporting non-u.s., that is to say syrian opposition or iraqi soldiers on the ground taking the fight to isil. he is holding them up as examples of how we will do this. >> is there a single country that has pledged combat troops

on the ground in syria? >> you will hear from kerry on this over the coming days. what he has said is others have suggested they are will doing that. we are not looking for that right now. we are looking for -- >> wait a minute. why the no. >> we are trying to put together specifics of what we will get. that's what the president will talk to john allen about on tuesday. as we begin to put this coalition together in very concrete fashion. >> there's not a single military adviser that has come to you and said you can defeat isis in syria without combat troops? that's a fact. >> that's a fact. that's the president's view. that's what we need congress to do.

we're seeing very good progress on this is to put together support for what the president calls a title 10 program to train and equip the syrian opposition on the ground fighting isil. >> you bring that up. the president very skeptical of this opposition a month ago in an interview. now, suddenly, this is the great hope? >> i think you overstate that. i don't think anybody called it the great hope. we all recognize we need a ground force of syrians, of a sunni force fighting isil in syria, the same way we will have iraqi forces on the ground in

iraq. this is backed up by u.s. air power. >> i'm going to ask this another way. if you know you need combat troops on the ground. you don't have any countries that have pledged to do it yet. i understand you are saying some will come in. >> i didn't say that. i said -- >> there are countries that have pledged? >> you will hear from secretary kerry that countries are saying that they're ready to do that and they're ready to fly with us. we're going to get to that in due time. >> can you pledge for sure that there will never be american combat troops on the ground in syria? >> you heard what the president said, including his address to the country. this is an effort that like in yemen and somalia, we will take to the fight to the enemy without putting ground troops into the effort. we need ground troops. that's why we want to program to train the opposition. that's currently pending in congress. >> let's talk about the vote in congress. the president has said about his plan for isis, he wouldn't mind if congress weighs in but that he has the authority. >> he didn't say he wouldn't mind. he said he would welcome it. >> fair enough. different way of phrasing, i think the same way. but a year ago, he needed -- he said he needed congress behind him before he took any action in syria. this time he just simply welcomes it. but if they don't do it, he's going to it anyway. why the change? >> i came on the show almost exactly a year ago to warn about the threat of syrian chemical weapons. earlier this summer, we succeeded in destroying the declared syrian chemical weapons stockpile which had been one the world's biggest of the that's one point. point two, when i came on the show a year ago, we did not have

any statutory authorization that would under score our effort to take the fight to syria because of the chemical weapons. that's why we -- and by the way, would have brought us into the middle of a civil war in syria. we decided we needed congress to help with us that. now we have a situation with the 2001 authorization, we have statutory authorization. >> p it's funny that you want to use the authorization to do this and you also want to change the authorization. are you still going to pursue the war authorization, rescinding it and having a new one? or are you delaying the push? >> this has always -- this is something we were talking to congress about. we will continue to talk to them about it. that's something -- >> this is in the back seat in you're sort of punting that. >> this is something we have been working with congress. we will continue to work with congress on. >> before i let you go, have you spoken with the president? have you guys talked about the ray rice situation in the nfl? >> we have talked generally about the situation in the nfl. the president was shocked by what he saw. let's put it that way. >> how does he think the nfl has handled this? >> i don't want to get into characterization of that. we all know that ray rice, being suspended indefinitely, seems to be exactly the right thing. >> denis mcdonough, thanks for

coming on "meet the press." >> thanks for having me. >> let's get reaction from our panel. mike murphy, elaine cooper, jim vandehigh. helene, let me start with you. you said something interesting when i told you about the poll numbers. basically, 62% in favor and 68% skeptical that the plan will work. you said somebody else had the same feeling. >> president obama, i think, is -- this interview with denis was interesting. he seems like he's trying to thread this needle so finally. i think when we saw president obama come out last week talking about the coalition and talking about this plan to somehow train these syrian moderates here in opposition on the ground, i think he believes in the core coalition and believes in what he's doing.

i'm not -- i think there's skepticism. there's some believe that some may have been the ones who turned over the americans. >> weapons -- >> some traded americans to isis. >> so the idea that suddenly the free syrian army is going to turn into the kurdish peshmerga even seems a little bit far-fetched. >> murphy, i get the sense that they wish, you know, if it wasn't for iraq we would have a more robust military plan. we wouldn't be rolling out combat troops. i understand politically why they have to. there would be no support in congress for it. no support in the public for it. they don't know how to do it without it. >> i'm going to call vegas and get the line on the moderate opposition's war fighting capacity. >> the president said they're dentists. revolutionaries. they're trying. >> i think his problem is that the premise of his campaign in 2008 where he took on hillary clinton had naive assumptions. caution is a good thing but too

much turns into paralysis. there was an opportunity to act earlier. now he is lurching in the right direction. it could take a generation to fix. defining victory with this with limited american arms is very difficult. >> it is sort of collective washington seems to be in the same place as the public. supportive, they want to do something but nobody thinks this plan is the best plan. >> no wonder the president is conflicted. if you look at the poll, that's what the president thinks. the truth is, he can't say what the truth is that there is a glorious win you finally get them to ascribe as a war. even if you play it out and they purge the islamic state from syria. what are you left with? you are left with assad who videotaped rolling over heads of victims and you have created a

state where it's an untenable refugee camp. that's why you see this confliction. there are boots on the ground. what do you think the military advisers are, sanitation specialists? no. they are the elite forces, the hardest to find, to keep alive, the hardest to train. they are there. i think that's where you get frustration. >> that's the issue here is that we just don't know, even if we win here, there's going to be something else that fills this back in which the public is being so skeptical about. after isis it will be something else. >> that's what we have seen. the iraq war, there are promises about what the outcome would be over that. and guess what, there's a new al qaeda, it's bigger, badder, more well funded and it's isis.

you see this public that has watched over these last 13 years in the wake of 9/11 see people on television making promises that just haven't come to pass. no wonder they're skeptical. >> rational for me for the public to react that way. all of us have that feeling. you don't know how this ends. you will stick with me. more to come. more from you later. coming up, the president's plan to defeat isis. can it work? i'm joined by the architect of the u.s.-led coalition that liberated iraq, none other than jim baker. >> announcer: "meet the press" is brought to you by boeing, where the drive to build something better inspires us every day. yeah! vo: don't just dream of being the hero. make it happen. i can't believe we're missing the game for this. we're not. i've got xlte. vo: it doubles our 4g lte bandwidth in cities nationwide, so be that guy with verizon xlte.

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welcome back. joining me to discuss president

obama's strategy to combat isis is james baker. this is james baker -- >> baker was secretary of state under george bush in it the early 1990s and played a key role putting together the coalition to take on hussein and liberate kuwait. he has one of the deepest government resumes. he was white house chief of staff under reagan. he was secretary of treasury in reagan's second term. after serving as secretary of the state for bush 41 he finished up that term becoming his chief of staff. this is james baker's 28th appearance on the program. remarkably, i'm the 11th "meet the press" moderator to interview you. secretary baker, thanks for coming on this morning. >> a pleasure to be with you. >> let me start with this. the president's plan. is it the right plan? >> it's the president's plan. so it better be the right plan. it's got some problems with it.

your panel was just talking about some of those. the biggest, of course, is who are our quote partners on the ground that the president referred to in his speech. i don't know where they come from. when we did this in 1991, that is built a coalition to accomplish something in the middle east -- >> 200,000 troops? >> 500,000. we put -- we had 500,000 u.s. troops. >> and you had an additional -- >> for desert storm and we had thousands of troops from other countries. there wasn't any question about our resolve on the part of those people who were trying to bring into the coalition. but everybody tells me -- and i'm not -- i was in the marine corps but i'm not a military expert. you can't do this just with air power. we have to have special ops or people who can advise this ground force who can collect intelligence, who can guide air strikes. if they're not going to be americans. who are they going to be?

we have to have some people on the ground. but we're also going to have to have some people to take territory after the air strikes. >> that's this hope that the president himself was skeptical of this moderate syrian opposition. the other idea is you hope that it's sunni countries that provide the boots on the combat troops. where is saudi arabia? it's not coming. the jordanians, the turks, all of those military forces who built their militaries with u.s. money, by the way, where are they? >> they're not here. and they may not be here because we're not on the ground. >> you think that's the issue? >> i'm not suggesting that we need to get into another ground war in the middle east. i'm just saying, we cannot do this without having some forces on the ground that can help our air campaign. you have to have that. i'm afraid to say what i think

it's going to be. it's going to be u.s. special ops forces and people like that on the ground. because we don't have any other forces being offered to us. >> when you built your coalition, it was one things i read was talking about the controversy surrounding -- you wanted to bring syria into the coalition. there were some that were skeptical of bringing in syria. today, that country that there is a debate about, do you bring in the coalition, is iran. if you were secretary of state right now, would you be -- you were adamant saying, they're with us on this. we need them in the coalition. this is about syria at the time. would you be feeling same way about iran? >> they not only joined the coalition, they sent troops. i would not do that today with respect to iran for one reason.

we've got to prove that this -- that we're not jumping in on the side of the shia between them and the sunni. we need to bring -- we need sunni support. if we bring iran in at this point, we will lose that sunni support. >> the coalition focus should be all sunni? >> for this purpose. in the long-term, the middle east is mired in turmoil, everywhere you look. in the long-term, somebody will have to organize a conference to deal with these conflicts. these conflicts bring about terrorism. every country in the region or world would like to see us take out isis. but there's more coming if we don't do this. pull the countries of the region together, eu, russia, china and, of course, ourselves and have a discussion and a conference and negotiation over how we empower the moderate forces in the region, how we limit the extremists in the region and do this without further inflaming the conflict. >> the cloud of the iraq war seems to color everything. it's the reason the president isn't committing combat troops

into this. i know you have been asked this before. you chose -- the bush 41 administration chose not to take out hussein. you believe that the 1990s would look like what we are seeing today. >> we were afraid of that. for two years after we left office, why didn't you guys take care of saddam when you had a chance? every time i would give a speech i would get the question. now people see why we didn't. we were worried about this very thing happening. that there would be ethnic divisions and the country would split apart. >> this is exactly it. i take it you don't agree with vice president cheney who said if he had it to do over with again he'd do the iraq war again. >> i don't agree with this. i don't agree that because they did the iraq war is where we are where we are. you can make the same argument about obama's failure to arm the syrian opposition.

>> earlier. >> yeah. or not leaving a residual force in iraq. you can argue all those things about the past. the problem is, we have a huge issue here. what do we do about it going forward? there's no country in the world that could pull together the kind of conference or negotiation i'm talking about except the united states of america. we need to do that. whether we can still do that or not, i don't know. when we put our coalition together, we had 500,000 u.s. troops on ground. we had a specific goal within a limited time frame, kick iraq out of kuwait. and america was respected by its allies and feared by its enemies. we're not there anymore. >> by the way, you got the war paid for -- most of it. >> we got other people to pay for the war. >> james baker, former secretary of state, thanks for coming on "meet the press." hillary clinton is making a big splash today in iowa. andrea mitchell finds she may not be the sure thing again that

her supporters are imagining. bt her supporters are imaging. >> announcer: "meet the press" is brought to you by the morgan stanley institute for sustainable investing.

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welcome back. let's turn now to the race for welcome back. let's turn now to the race for 2016. hillary clinton is making us. she's done everything a potential candidate can be expected to do, book tour, paid speeches before you start running. she's done nothing to stop the rumor mill. you could argue that once she steps foot in iowa later today for the annual tom harkin steak fry, there is truly the no turning back. hillary is finding that once again, being the most prepared candidate with the best resume

may not be enough for many a democratic party that is tilting to the left. >> reporter: from bill boards to buses for the candidate in waiting, supporters are flooding the state. they are ready for hillary's first appearance in iowa in 2,446 days. yes, they keep track of details like that here. a key strategy targeting young people. at this coffee house in des moines, clinton has her work cut out for her with some of the 20-somethings we caught up with. >> i'm looking for someone that's a little bitter more liberal. >> reporter: andy duffelmire, a law student. >> more on the edge of pushing important issues like climate change and campaign finance reform and income equality. i'm not sure that hillary is that candidate. >> reporter: this woman works for a non-profit. what do you see first, a politician, a woman, a president? >> i think people see kind of the cronyism on wall street.

her biggest supporters is wall street. she's currently on the circuit giving speeches to goldman sachs. i feel like regular people might see that as something that they're not looking for anymore. >> reporter: but caroline clawson, a college sophomore, thinks clinton would get things done. >> she actually wants to work across the aisle and make sure that something would happen if she were to be president. rather than the gridlock we have currently. >> reporter: last time team clinton was stunned by the obama forces. she even finished third in iowa behind john edwards. >> i am so ready for the rest of this campaign. >> reporter: it still hurts. here is how she describeded it in her new book "hard choices." the night when i placed third was excruciating. >> reporter: obama blitzed her on new media. this time clinton supporters are trying to catch up on social media and enlisting celebrities

like katy perry who posted, i told hillary clinton that i would write her a theme song if she needs it. there's the vision thing. >> i feel like i don't know who she is. and i do feel like maybe she's a little malleable in a mitt romney way. >> reporter: especially with women voters. >> i would love to see the first woman president. but it doesn't matter more to me than my progressive values. >> reporter: just in a few hours, this field behind me is going to be filled with more than 5,000 very enthusiastic democrats. the hillary clinton skeptics, they want elizabeth warren, bernie sanders. they want someone to push her to the left. bernie sanders will be here in iowa later tonight in a separate event. >> there you go. the scene of the crime if you are a clinton supporter back in '08. obama was able to trump her. we are going to kick off our "meet the candidate" series with senator bernie sanders of

vermont. he's a self-proclaimed democratic socialist. he was the mayor of burlington. he served eight terms in the house of representatives beginning in 1991. in '06 he was elected to the senate. he's prepared to run for president. he has spent time in mississippi, new hampshire in recent weeks talking about the fight for economic justice. by the way, unlike jim baker, this is senator sanders' first appearance on "meet the press." joining me now is senator bernie sanders, the independent who caucuses with the democrats. let me start with that. are you about to switch parties? >> i am the longest serving independent in the history of the united states congress. that's how i have won in the state of vermont. i am thinking about running for president. the issue whether you run as an independent with the necessity of setting up a 50-state infrastructure, that's something i'm looking at. >> sounds like you have ruled

out running as an independent. >> no. >> you could do it that way? >> that's why i'm going to iowa, to see how people feel about it. the truth is, profound anger at both political parties, more and more people are becoming independent. the negative is, how do you set up a 50-state infrastructure as an independent. >> i want to read something paraphrases to it. it essential to have someone in the 2016 presidential campaign who is willing to take on wall street, address the collapse of the middle class, tackle the spread of poverty. look at social security and medicare. if you think hillary were doing that, you wouldn't consider this? >> i don't know that hillary is running. i don't know what she's running on. this is what i do know. i know that the middle class in this country is collapsing. i know that the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is growing wider. there's profound anger at the greed on wall street and corporate america. anger at the corporate establishment. anger at the media establishment. the american people want real change. i have been taking on the big

money and special interests all of my political life. >> you say you are separating out -- are you separating out hillary from this? if she were speaking more robustly would you be thinking -- >> the issue is not hillary. i have known hillary for many years. i have a lot of respect for hillary clinton. the question is at a time when so many people have seen a decline in their standard of living, when the wealthiest people and largest corporations are doing well, the american people want change. they want congress, candidates to stand up to the big money interest. let hillary speak for herself. i know where i'm coming from. >> i hear you. you rail against this. you must be unhappy with the president. >> i think president obama has done good things. the level of obstructionism that he's had to face is unprecedented in american history. in some cases i disagree with him. he should have understood that the republicans were not going to cooperate. he should have gone to the people in a more aggressive way and say, the american people

want to raise the minimum wage. we need millions of people to come to washington to demand us to do that. you can't sit and negotiate with people who choose not to negotiation. >> you believe he's right. you don't believe he is pushed them hard enough? >> i think he has been right on some of his ideas. i was on the floor of the senate for 8 1/2 hours because i disagreed with his tax breaks for the rich. i have a lot of disagreements with him. the bottom line is i think he has not tapped the anger and the frustration that the american people feel on many, many issues. the only way we bring about change is when the american people become mobilized. this coming election, 60% of the american people are not going to vote. the koch brothers and other billionaires will spend hundreds of millions of dollars. that is not a way you bring about change. we have to mobilize the american people. >> let me ask you on the billionaire front, is there -- such a thing -- if a billionaire agrees with with you on issues, are you okay with them participating in the process? >> no. >> or do you think this process, whether it's tom stier or michael bloomberg or the coke brothers. >> citizens united will be one of the worst supreme court

decisions ever. it's opening up the road to -- oligarchy in the united states of america where billionaires like the koch brothers -- >> left or right? >> but it's mostly right. let's be clear. it's not fair to give. >> this year they have are expecting more money. >> it will always be. the koch brothers will spend $14 billion. do you know what they believe in? this is what they told us. they want to end social security, medicare, medicaid, more tax breaks for the rich. large corporations. nobody in america wants that except the billionaire class. they are able to put hundreds of millions into the political process. this is a danger to political democracy. >> you are headed to iowa. i'm going to ask it this way about the democratic party today. do you think the democratic party is open to a progressive like you? do you think the democratic party is closer to where you are or closer to where the clintons are? >> let me shock youment i don't think it's just the democratic party. i think whether they are democrats, moderates or oh conservatives, there is a profound anger understanding the middle class is disappearing.

95% of all new income has gone to the top 1%. in vermont i get republican votes. >> i'm going to ask you, where is the democratic party today? closer to you or -- >> i think anybody who speaks the needs of the working class and middle class of this country and shows the courage to take on the billionaire class. that candidate will do well. >> bernie sanders, independent from vermont, we'll be watching you. stay safe on the trail in iowa over the weekend. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. murphy, cooper, henderson, vandehei still here. all right, vande. is the democratic party closer to where hillary clinton is or bernie? >> let's talk about hillary. there's talk about her inevitability. there's three big problems that people are not paying enough attention to. one is what andrea mitchell hit on. i don't know her theology is where the democratic party is. she's been running for three months. that has not been a smooth operating machine. she looked disconnected on her wealth issue. in her trying to break away from obama looked politically craven. three, elections are about the

future. her whole argument, look at the '90s, look at my record. the next election given what we talked about the beginning of the program and what's happening in the world is going to be way different than everyone is imagining. it's the future. >> that's a -- >> it's a grim case. but the problem is, it looks like it's a field -- if hillary runs it will be hill rand not hillary. so far the not hillarys, maybe bernie sanders will be one, he said the issue is not hillary. he's not even willing to take her on right now. >> which, by the way, i'm sorry -- >> elizabeth warren doesn't seem to be ready to take on hillary either. so, you know, you say she's been running for three months. he's been running for eight, ten, 12 years or so. the rest of the field, o'malley, does he look like he's ready to run? he has operatives in iowa this go around. >> take the fight -- bernie didn't have the fight. i thought he was going to have a little more fight. he has the passion for the issues, but he's not ready to take on hillary. that tells you a lot. >> i'm not going to bet my house on bernie breaking out.

he does have the vermont disease like howard dean. i'm with jim. hillary clinton is very impressive. she's not that impressive a candidate. she's one away from musky. it's going to be a very bumpy -- i'm throwing out the old ed musky. establishment -- >> bernie sanders is george mcgovern. >> in an anti establishment year, you are going to hear more of that candidate from the goldman sachs swing. bernie's not going anywhere. bernie's message in a democratic primary in this turbulence is going to be powerful. she has to be the favorite if she runs. i don't think there's a lock. >> helene, i will get you in after the break on this. >> goodie. >> her eyebrows lifted. you're going ed musky? what are you doing? i'm going to my poll next. our nbc news, wall street

journal poll. some numbers here. one party has been fearing all summer long. wait until you see the numbers. the growing group calling for goodell to step down. all that after this next break. yeah! vo: don't just dream of being the hero. make it happen. i can't believe we're missing the game for this. we're not. i've got xlte. vo: it doubles our 4g lte bandwidth in cities nationwide, so be that guy with verizon xlte. now get 1gb of bonus data, and our best pricing ever on the more everything plan. you get used to food odors you think it smells fine, but your guests think it smells like this... ( sound effects ) febreze air effects works instantly to eliminate odors you've gone noseblind to. it smells so much better! so you and your guests can breathe happy. [guy] i know what you're you're thinking beneful. [announcer]beneful has wholesome grains,real beef,even accents of spinach,carrots and peas.

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while it's true collective washington is obsessed with 2016, i should remind you we have an election day in 51 days. our newest poll did not have some good news for the democrats. what had republicans smiling this week? let me show you. it starts at the president's dismal job approval rating. we focus on this rating because it's one of the better indicators of which party will do better in the midterms. president obama's approval sits at 40% this month.

look at this. it was higher in september of 2010. bad year for democrats. 45%, that's when his party lost 63 seats in the house and six in the senate. check this out. in the same month in 2006, when a wave of blue washed over congress, president george w. bush's rating was 42%. here is one more example. the 1994 republican tsunami, clinton's approval rate hg dropped over the course of the year to 44%. then his party lost 53 seats. again, this year, that approval rating of president obama worse than the last three big mid term elections. let's move on. you want something else? a majority of the country thinks republicans will do a better job when it comes to immigration, handling the economy, foreign policy and national defense. here is what our pollsters said about that. >> these numbers are so positive

to the republican that among likely voters they say republicans by five points, that's a big number that has huge meaning across lots of races. >> in this poll, first time republicans moving up and democrats moving down. >> i saw that, too. >> peter's use is about the republican positive rating going down while the democratic's positive rating is going down. this is a full-on republican wave? maybe not. here are three potential yellow flags for the gop. there's a female fire wall for the democrats. women favor the democratic party by four more points than they did in 2010. primarily because they believe the democrats handle women's issues and healthcare issues better than the gop. number two, voters aren't feeling this election. only 44% of respondents say they are very interested in the mid terms. that number was at 50% at the same point in time in 2010. finally, there's this. 53%, a majority believe this election is going to change nothing here in washington. zip.

zilch. not a surprise. the voters probably are on to something. bottom line, from this poll, democrats are at a knife's edge. they have a few weeks to right their ship against what is building to become potentially another republican win. we'll be right back right back with hbo's bryant gumbel on whether nfl commissioner rogererer goodell should keep his job. well, unlimited talk and text, and ten gigs of data for the five of you would be... one-seventy-five a month. good calculating kyle. good job kyle. you just made partner. our best-ever pricing on mobile share value plans for business. now with a $100 bill credit for every business line you add.

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nfl season. analysts would usually be talking manning and rogers today. instead, it's rice and goodell. >> it has led the nightly news almost the entire week. >> damage control. >> in the wake of the ray rice domestic violence scandal, editorials calling for nfl commissioner roger goodell to step down are rolling in. the damning video of ray rice isn't the only thing goodell may have tripped up on. >> we didn't know what was on the tape. >> it's just the most visual. >> greg hardy was convicted of assaulting a woman in may. he is scheduled to play today. his ex-girlfriend's protective order is chilling. hardy choked me with both hands around my throat. hardy picked me up over his head and threw me on to a couch covered in assault rifles. whether goodell steps down or not, he and rice have forced the

country to take a closer look at domestic violence. according to a cdc survey, one in four women will experience severe physical violence in their lifetime. when you add rape and stalking into the mix, more than one in three american women will experience these types it of violence. that's 42 million women. >> i'm joined by bryant gumbel. you have covered politicians, you have covered sports figures. watching the nfl, there's no doubt that they seem to be handling this worse than any politician i have seen in crisis management. roger goodell, should he have his job today? >> i don't know if he shouldn't. it's not for me to say. i think there's no evidence to

suggest that his job is on the line. his fate is controlled by billionaires who care most about him making them money, not whether he lied or not. not how he bungled this or not. so until and unless they are prepared to say we care more about a social issue than they do about money, i don't think there's any reason to suspect he will be fired. >> you say this about -- what should they be doing to prove they take domestic violence seriously? we have this -- they do october, they do breast cancer awareness. if they do that again this coming october, it's going to scream out of touch to me. >> yeah. i agree with you. they're going to pink wash. they're going to wrap themselves -- it's what they do best. they sell they are sensitive to women, wrap themselves in pink. medical science and lawyers force them to confront it. they operate as a non-profit.

the nfl is very good at masquerading. >> it's funny. is it us? i like at the problems in washington. i say, we have to look in the mirror. we elect these folks. if you don't like what's going on, it's us or the fans. we love the sport. it allowed them to do what they want. >> they send the congressmen back in record numbers. they hate the way the nfl operates but they love their team. as a result, people will be cheering greg hardy. in san francisco, they will cheer ray mcdonald. thursday night, there were fans in baltimore wearing ray rice jerseys. >> should the owners take responsibility here? he serves at the pleasure of the owners. if the owners lose money, then suddenly they might act. >> bingo. you saw as i did that the female senators sent a letter to roger goodell complaining. i would suggest anybody who wants to complain should complain to fedex, ford, because until and unless you start hitting the nfl in a language it understands, which is money, very little is going to change. >> bryant gumbel, thanks for doing this. hbo "real sports." helene cooper, how do you feel about the nfl today versus two

weeks ago? >> i have never felt that highly about the nfl to begin with. i'm not a big american football. i'm more of a soccer person. but that said, i mean, i think this whole -- i think this whole thing has been -- it says more about us and it says a lot more about the people that watch football. that's where you are going to see -- if there's any impact going forward, it's going to come from that. you are also talking about an issue that is so prevalent throughout society. this is not -- it's not something that is only in the nfl. it's something so -- if you can get some sort of discussion -- wider discussion going. >> it better -- october better be purple. because purple is a domestic violence awareness month. if the nfl blows this, you know what, i think a lot of us might give up. >> you wonder if they go purple in october, will people scream hypocrisy.

>> interesting line by bryant. >> i think there's a discussion about the future of football. we have this -- the cases where all these explayers are having brain damage and disorders. one of the underlying question is, does nfl become boxing. people turned away from boxing because of the brutality partly but because it was corrupt. >> it is. we have been talking about that. let me end with politics. murphy and vandehei, the first shot at this. what everybody in washington knows but won't say. that is secretly i'm convinced -- we know this -- hillary clinton would love to see the senate in democrat hands. >> they never say it in public because everybody knows nothing is going to happen over the next two years. democrats, hillary clinton in particular, would love republicans, rand paul to take ownership of the dysfunction. >> the reverse, secretly there are republicans who think, boy, if we come up a seat short, maybe it will allow democrats to

share in the dysfunction. >> there's a huge opportunity for us if we win the majority -- the odds are better we do than the don't, to talk about middle class economics. >> they will do that when? >> there's a fear that it will just be american idol of grievance. if we do that with the bad calendar in '16, the bad state miss the senate, it could be very bad. harry reid may throw the senate. you could argue it's in his interest. >> there's some republicans would love to win the six seats. and make sure it's not mitch mcconnell. >> that's right. if you are rubio, cruz, thinking about running in 2016, you will run on that dysfunction. you will need to run away from it as well. it's a dicey -- >> easier for hillary to run against a republican congress than dance with obama. >> wish for a better life for all of us as americans. >> okay. >> you're not supposed to smirk. you were great. that's it for today. we will be back next week,

because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." they are killing and slaughtering thousands of people -- muslims, christians, minorities across iraq and syria. they boast of their brutality. they claim to do this in the name of islam. that is nonsense. islam is a religion of peace. they are not muslims. they are monsters. >> strong words this morning from british prime minister david cameron, reacting to news of a third beheading at the hand s -- >> action could be one of hatred.